Epic Games and The LEGO Group team up to create a metaverse for kids

No news on when it will release or on which platforms.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Epic Gamesand The LEGO Group are teaming up todevelop a new metaverseto serve as a playground for children.

Details are scarce as neither company revealed or said anything about what this new metaverse will entail. No one knows if this will be an open sandbox for kids to play in or a game with defined goals. There’s also no information as to when it will launch or on what platforms.

What is known, however, are the three main principles fueling development with a major focus on safety. According to the two companies, their metaverse will make children’s “safety and wellbeing a priority”, protect player privacy, and give them the tools to control their own experience.

CEO of The LEGO Group Niels B Christiansen said there’s an opportunity for kids to “…develop life-long skills such as creativity, collaboration, and communication…” in a safe and positive environment.

Expanding Toolset

In recent years, Epic Games has been making moves into developing more kid-friendly spaces. The developer already has extensive experience with creating massive digital worlds, as seen inFortnite, but Epic was never really known for servicing a young audience.

That attitude changed whenEpic Games purchased SuperAwesome in 2020, a tech company that specializes in protecting children and parents online with its Kids Web Services (KWS) platform. Then inSeptember 2021, Epic made the KWS software free for all developers around the world via its Epic Online Services.

The Lego Group has also madedigital contributionssuch as playing a role in the development of the Digital Child Safety Policy with UNICEF. It also helped develop the Child Online Safety Assessment tool for companies to use in addressing children’s rights online.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Twitter Speculation

So this long-term partnership isn’t without merit. Since the concept of ametaverseis still nebulous, some have speculated what this metaverse will be.

People onlinehave suggested the metaverse could be something likeMinecraftor a Roblox-style game. The argument could be made that Roblox is indeed a metaverse since it’s a massive online world where players can go in, create an avatar, and interact with people in a LEGO-style world.

Plus, those titles are bound to the player’s imagination, much like a LEGO set. Still, those games don’t have Epic’s gaming expertise or its KWS platform protecting their children.

Cesar Cadenas has been writing about the tech industry for several years now specializing in consumer electronics, entertainment devices, Windows, and the gaming industry. But he’s also passionate about smartphones, GPUs, and cybersecurity.

The PS5 Pro’s PSSR upscaling gives multiple games a huge visual upgrade – can it compete with Nvidia’s DLSS 3 successor?

I’m a Nintendo Switch expert, here are the best early Black Friday deals right now

3 reasons why PIA fell in our best VPN rankings